Force Destiny

Arrival of the First Order

"Rey!" Finn gasped as he dug his way back to the crevasse, pulling Rose along with him. The majority of the strength of the avalanche had been directed into the chasm toward Rey, while they absorbed the much weaker impact of the churning cloud. Finn had been able to quickly dig Rose out from under the light blanket of snow – finding her as if her heart carried a homing beacon. But the silence from Rey was deafening.

"Rey!" He screamed again from the edge, searching the white snow covering the bottom of the cavern for any signs of life. The snow swirled violently around them as they listened for her. Any sounds that may have been coming from the crevasse were drowned out by the rumbling of machinery and disembodied shouts coming somewhere from the direction of the avalanche.

Blasterfire burst past them, and Finn immediately began to return fire across the precipice. "It's the First Order! The avalanche didn't stop them!" Finn realized.

Rose raised her weapon, choosing to focus on defending the man she loved, rather focusing on the man who had likely betrayed her friend. He was the Supreme Leader. If the First Order was attacking them, it was because Kylo had ordered them to do so. Rey's heart was the least of their worries when they were fighting for their lives. More troopers had joined the ones firing upon them, they were vastly outnumbered, and the flat terrain gave them little opportunity to hide. They could run, but that would require leaving their friend, and neither of them would do that. Fighting back until they killed every last trooper or Rey pulled herself out of the snow was their only option.

Where Rose's shots were wild and panicked, Finn's were calm, methodical, and frighteningly accurate. This was the fearsome killer trained by the First Order, she realized. Their only failure in his training was they had never turned his heart, instead creating the highly skilled warrior they now had to contend with. If they all would turn as Finn had, the First Order would fall. She heard blasterfire moving further down the drift and realized Finn was doing his best to draw fire away from her.

A bolt grazed her arm, and her weapon went flying out of her hands. She could almost sense the other bolt rocketing toward her— had she known more about the Force, she would assume that perception was what it felt like—unfortunately, it did nothing to quicken her reflexes. In one instant, she was frozen in terror from her impending realization, and the next she was crashing to the cold ground behind a snowbank. Finn's heavy weight was sprawled on top of her, gasping for breath after he tackled her. His face was hidden in her neck, and his entire body shook violently.

"Finn!" she shouted. He was shuddering on top of her, and she feared that the bolt had struck him instead. She began searching his body for evidence of a wound. "No, Finn. Did it hit you?" She tried to push him off, for better access, but he only curled his arms around her tighter. "I need to see! Are you hurt?" His only response was a shake of his head against her throat. His breath was hot against her skin. When she lifted his head between her palms, his eyes were wet. "Finn?"

He shook his head, his chin trembling. "That could have... I can't lose you, Rose." Even when she pulled back farther to ensure that he was unharmed, his arm wrapped around her back, holding her against him. "I can't... I can't lose either of you. I'm not strong enough."

"You won't," she promised. "We'll save her." She knew that every moment they spent fighting the stormtroopers was another moment Rey was in danger. They didn't have time to be careful, and she couldn't do anything to get down to that cavern without her blaster. A look of determination passed over her face before she took off in a sprint toward her discarded weapon.

"Rose!" He shouted after her, firing his weapon with a wide spray of suppressive fire. When she didn't stop, he began shouting. "Shoot me! The traitor! I'm right here, shoot me!" Rose dove for her blaster, sliding through the snow. Once it was in her hands, she turned back toward Finn. He was still firing, standing on top of the snowbank, fully exposed to counter-fire. It wasn't until she aimed her blaster across the vast abyss that her fear for him abated.

"Finn!" she shouted at him until he stopped firing. She stood staring at him expectantly as the winds whipped her hair across her face. "They're gone." His blaster dropped to the snow the second he realized she was right. They were no longer in danger; the First Order had retreated. The only question was why. He stormed across the ice toward her, his finger pointed accusingly. "Did you listen to what I said? I just told you I can't...."

"Save Rey first; scold at me later." Rose opened her comlink and walked to the edge of the cavern, staring down into the darkness. "Chewie..."

She could hear Finn grumble from somewhere behind her as he picked up his blaster, "Don't think I'm letting this go."